Chambord

Places of Interest - France

introduction

In the hamlet Chambord stands the very flamboyant French Renaissance style castle with the same name. Built from 1519 by King Francis I (from France) it was a hunting castle that was never used to live in for a long time. The roof, full of chimneys that had to look like separate buildings, looks a bit like a big chessboard, but it was acutally meant as the skyline of the city Constantinople.

The most famous part of the castle must be the double staircase that is said to have been built on a design by "Leonardo da Vinci". It is one of the largest, most beautiful and famous castles on the banks of the river Loire and certainly worth seeing and visiting. It is not for nothing on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

highlights

Castle of Chambord:

This white sandstone gem built on the banks of the river the Loire is one of the highlights of a visit to this area. In addition to the exterior that looks a bit like a romantic "Disney" castle, the interior is also worthwhile. You can cast your eyes on the blue bedroom of the king or the red bedroom of his ega.

There are numerous paintings to admire next to tapestries and rugs. You can also take a look at the interesting carriages and the chapel. Everywhere in the castle you see the coat of arms of Francis I (the salamander) and initial - the letter "F". Of course the highlight is the double spiral staircase that is located in the middle of the castle. It is claimed (but has never been proved) that this would be a design by Leonardo da Vinci.

If you walk up one staircase, and someone else down the other, there is a chance that you never encounter each other. There is an inside window so you can greet each other (if desired). Outside the castle a beautiful park of about 50 km2 has been laid out, which is largely preserved in French style.

history

King Francis I of France, who grew up in the nearby town of Blois, began in the year 1519 with the construction of the beautiful castle Chambord. It was a temporary shelter for hunting, parties and quickly grew into one of the largest and most beautiful castles in the Loire region. To this day it is not clear who designed the castle but it is hoped that Leonardo da Vinci did. Permanent occupation was excluded at that time because of the distance to the civilized world (food and drink).

In addition, the rooms were barely warm in the winter. King Frans spent only 72 nights in the palace and it is known that Emperor Charles V stayed at least one night in the castle (1539) when he traveled from Brussels to Madrid. The castle had not yet been completed; often construction has been stopped because of lack of money and even when Frans died, the building was still far from finished. Louis XIV picked up the restoration work again in the early 17th century and liked to hunt around the castle.

During the French Revolution, the existing furniture was auctioned and part of the building materials demolished and used for fires. In 1809 Napoleon donated the castle to his marshal Berthier. In 1939, shortly before the Nazis invaded France, many art collections including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo (and the pieces of the museum in Compiegne) were secured in castle “Chambord”. The castle was almost destroyed when an American bomber crashed on the lawn of the castle on 22 June 1944.

Chambord-Loire-Castle-Valley-France-village

tips & advice (2013)

Chambord to Blois and Saumur: you can take the bus to Blois (line 2); it is fifteen kilometers and within half an hour you will be dropped near the castle. At Blois station you can take the train to Saumur (direction the city of “Tour”) for 20 euros.

But keep in mind that you sometimes have to wait 2 hours (at least 15:30 will be departing for sure). And that also applies to the bus to the castle.

Name: Castle Chambord

Price: 11 euros

Content:

See above for information (you can leave your bag here in a locker) and there is a large gift shop. There are also plenty of restaurants and cafes outside (quite pricey though).

TIP: visit the castle as early as possible because it can become very busy very quickly.

Wild camping spot: "Chambord park-forest"

Content:

Around the castle of Chambord is a large forest - a large part is walled though and is a national park. Besides the fact that it is not allowed to camp here, it is also very difficult to find a place here - it is swampy and it seems as if the whole area has been turned over.

There are a lot of vurn-forests some of them higher than a grown up man is. Near the parking places you can find small narrow forest paths to pieces of open terrain between the trees where you can camp perfectly. At the small parking lots you even have picnic tables and trash cans that you can use. Watch out for the hazelnut trees that can damage your tent badly.

Please note: there is nothing for sale in what they call Chambord-village; it was claimed that there was a shop but it turned out not to be there and the restaurants that were located there were all closed when we were there (high season).

So take everything you might need from, for example, the city Blois, about fifteen kilometers away. You can also park in the parking lot with your camper and visit the castle early or late in the day (for the others). You can also enjoy the castle in the evening by an evening walk.